Dear BLCF Friends,
Effective April 10, 2022, Bloor Lansdowne Christian Fellowship – BLCF Church will reopen by reservation only for Sunday worship under the limitations and guidelines set by Public Health and the Board of BLCF. In order to protect those who are vulnerable at Bloor Lansdowne Christian Fellowship from COVID-19 Virus infection, the BLCF Board mandates that the church will be open by reservation, with the following rules:
- attendees must wear a mask while on the premises
- attendees give their contact information upon arrival
- attendees observe two meters of social distance while seated
- attendees use hand sanitizer as needed
- attendees follow any additional directions given by members of the board, while inside the church
Please be advised that both the BLCF Café Community Dinner and the BLCF Wednesday Prayer Service will continue to remain closed effective March 16, 2020, and until further notice. We pray with the administration of sufficient COVID-19 vaccinations, and following the determination of Health Canada and other Health Authorities, that the danger of the Pandemic will have subsided sufficiently, to allow BLCF to reopen safely more of our worship and outreach activities without any concern of infection to the vulnerable within our community.
– Pastor Steve
Bloor Lansdowne Christian Fellowship – BLCF Church, 1307 Bloor Street West, Toronto, ON.
Message for Sunday:
‘Anticipating the Hope, Peace, Joy, and Love in Christ – Second Advent Sunday: Peace’
© December 4, 2022, by Steve Mickelson
Based on Messages Shared at BLCF on December 5, 2021, December 6, 2020, December 9, 2018, and December 6, 2015
BLCF Bulletin December 9, 2018

Musical Prelude: Downhere – How many kings (w/ lyrics) – https://youtu.be/zF952rzG3Yk
Light of The World – Lauren Daigle (Christmas story) – https://youtu.be/olw5uH_fvuw
Announcements and Call to Worship; Prayer
Prayer and Tithing; Prayer Requests; Hymn #572: Praise God from Whom All Blessings
Doxology (Praise God From Whom All Blessings Flow) Instrumental – https://youtu.be/Mk4p3rihONU
Music Special: Ryan Stevenson – Heart and Soul of Christmas (Official Lyric Video) – https://youtu.be/nEzrCN_yEvA
Matt Maher – Glory (Let There Be Peace) ([Official Lyric Video]) – https://youtu.be/QW4c6DcxgGc
Message by Steve Mickelson: ‘Anticipating the Hope, Peace, Joy, and Love in Christ – Second Advent Sunday: Peace’
Let us pray…
Good morning and welcome to Bloor Lansdowne Christian Fellowship Praise and Worship Service on this second Sunday of Advent 2022 and the first Sunday of December, making it a Communion Sunday. Today, we shall observe Advent by lighting the second of four Advent candles. Our lesson, today, is entitled: ‘Anticipating the Hope, Peace, Joy, and Love in Christ – Second Advent Sunday: Peace’, we will continue exploring the significance of the related events described in the Bible, that describe Advent as the arrival of people, things, and events around the time of our Savior’s birth.

To add to today’s celebration, BLCF Church would like to give each member of the congregation a personal copy of A Classic Christmas Caroling Songbook (Hendrickson Publishers). We will be using this songbook for today’s Advent Service and for the following four Sunday Services. So please remember to bring your Songbook back for the remainder of the year.
We will be using the songbook later on in the service. a trial.
At this time, let us light the Second Advent Candle, to signify the Peace from the Lord:
The lighting of the Second Advent Candle: Peace

Lighting Second Advent Candle (Peace) – 1 Thessalonians 5:13b-23 (ESV):
13b Be at peace among yourselves. 14 And we urge you, brothers and sisters, admonish the idle,[a] encourage the fainthearted, help the weak, be patient with them all. 15 See that no one repays anyone evil for evil, but always seek to do good to one another and to everyone. 16 Rejoice always, 17 pray without ceasing, 18 give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. 19 Do not quench the Spirit. 20 Do not despise prophecies, 21 but test everything; hold fast what is good. 22 Abstain from every form of evil.
23 Now may the God of peace himself sanctify you completely, and may your whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Footnotes: a. 1 Thessalonians 5:14 Or disorderly, or undisciplined
Message by Steve Mickelson: ‘Anticipating the Hope, Peace, Joy, and Love in Christ – Second Advent Sunday:

Speaking of Advent, Christians today observe Two Advents of the Lord:
The first is Jesus’ birth, where he came to fulfill prophecy by his birth, his death, his resurrection, his ascension to heaven, and by his sending of the Holy Spirit to those who believe and accept him as Lord and Saviour.
We are observing the Second Advent Sunday as we continue to light candles, read Scriptures, sing hymns, and say prayers and praises to commemorate God’s gifts through His Son, Jesus.
We also will observe the Second Advent or coming of the Lord, which has yet to take place, by observing Communion as a single Church or Body of Believers, taking the juice and bread elements of Communion.
As I mentioned before, today is the first Sunday of the month, and as the custom at BLCF Church on that first Sunday, we will like to invite the congregation to partake in the elements of Communion.
What Is Communion?
Communion began on the annual celebration of Passover when Jesus told his disciples to remember his sacrifice as they ate the bread and drank the wine. Just as Israel was celebrated the sacrifice of the Passover lamb when the angel of death passed over their homes, so believers in Jesus celebrate and remember his sacrifice of our sins when he died on the cross.
https://www.biblestudytools.com/topical-verses/communion-bible-verses/
Let us read from the Scriptures, Ephesians 2:13-18 (ESV):

13 But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. 14 For he himself is our peace, who has made us both one and has broken down in his flesh the dividing wall of hostility 15 by abolishing the law of commandments expressed in ordinances, that he might create in himself one new man in place of the two, so making peace, 16 and might reconcile us both to God in one body through the cross, thereby killing the hostility. 17 And he came and preached peace to you who were far off and peace to those who were near. 18 For through him we both have access in one Spirit to the Father.
Communion – 1 Corinthians 11:23-26 (ESV):
Music Special: Communion Special – Lauren Daigle – “We Will Not Forget” (Lyric Video) – https://youtu.be/izeZa9wx8wA
Let us continue with today’s lesson…

It was well over two years ago before BLCF Church closed its doors due to the COVID-19 Pandemic, we had a Sunday lesson that included the Scripture’s account of the “Tower of Babel”, where a group of misguided people embarked on building a great tower towards heaven so that they might raise themselves to the same level as the Lord, as well as to elevate their own personal status among other people throughout both the world and in history. The offense of embarking upon building an edifice to their own glory instead of to their Father in heaven was so misguided and offensive to Him, that they were stricken by God with a multitude of languages, for their multitude of sins. The language barrier was so great, that the people discontinued their work on the tower and the communication differences caused the people to disperse and be scattered into obscurity.
In Secondary school, I had a Latin teacher, who often used a favorite line “non-sensibus” to comment upon a student’s error in translating a paragraph to English from Latin or Vice-Versa. We are told that Scripture is both Divinely inspired and Spiritually discerned.
Still, we find throughout the Bible numerous examples of individuals and groups performing foolish actions based upon a poor understanding of the meaning of prophecies, Commandments, Parables, and/or Covenants. Examples of such actions include: consuming forbidden fruit, building towers to access heaven, as well as many other examples of actions based upon a twisted understanding of God’s Word.
We see in today’s first Scripture verse, Micah 5:1-5 (ESV), we see, that contrary to common belief at the time, Christ Child, the newborn Messiah, shall arise from the humble town of Bethlehem, to bring an end to armies, sieges, wars, and violence, which are all sins and grievously offend God. Jesus will bring God’s peace, justice, and harmony to all the factions in and around Israel In a manner that will establish the security of peace by way of the power of the Lord. Let us review that Scripture:

The Ruler to Be Born in Bethlehem
5 [a] Now muster your troops, O daughter[b] of troops;
siege is laid against us;
with a rod they strike the judge of Israel
on the cheek.
2 [c] But you, O Bethlehem Ephrathah,
who are too little to be among the clans of Judah,
from you shall come forth for me
one who is to be ruler in Israel,
whose coming forth is from of old,
from ancient days.
3 Therefore he shall give them up until the time
when she who is in labor has given birth;
then the rest of his brothers shall return
to the people of Israel.
4 And he shall stand and shepherd his flock in the strength of the Lord,
in the majesty of the name of the Lord his God.
And they shall dwell secure, for now he shall be great
to the ends of the earth.
5 And he shall be their peace.
Footnotes: a. Micah 5:1 Ch 4:14 in Hebrew b. Micah 5:1 That is, city . Micah 5:2 Ch 5:1 in Hebrew
There are many individuals and groups today who appear to have the misguided idea that the Father in heaven is somehow subject to the whims of extreme individuals or groups and that He can be manipulated into bringing the Final Judgement if they initiate a mighty conflict. This did not happen in either of the great World Wars and will not happen in any of the pseudo-religious conflicts around the globe today. It did not work, either, in the Crusades of the middle ages or today’s COVID-19 Pandemic.
What we do know is that Christ came humbly to Jerusalem on the back of a donkey, not a mighty steed-drawn chariot of conflict. Before his birth in a humble stable, his mother traveled to a census on the back of a donkey and the King of Kings was born in the stable with a cattle’s hay crib as a bed. Before dying on the cross for our sins, Jesus washed the feet of his disciples in order to show that battles will only be won when God’s Word is taught with love and humility. We see God promises to fulfill His New Covenant again to another generation’s prophet in our second Scripture verse, Haggai 2:1-9 (ESV): God’s New Covenant: Jesus Christ:

The Coming Glory of the Temple
2 In the seventh month, on the twenty-first day of the month, the word of the Lord came by the hand of Haggai the prophet, 2 “Speak now to Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and to Joshua the son of Jehozadak, the high priest, and to all the remnant of the people, and say, 3 ‘Who is left among you who saw this house in its former glory? How do you see it now? Is it not as nothing in your eyes? 4 Yet now be strong, O Zerubbabel, declares the Lord. Be strong, O Joshua, son of Jehozadak, the high priest. Be strong, all you people of the land, declares the Lord. Work, for I am with you, declares the Lord of hosts, 5 according to the covenant that I made with you when you came out of Egypt. My Spirit remains in your midst. Fear not. 6 For thus says the Lord of hosts: Yet once more, in a little while, I will shake the heavens and the earth and the sea and the dry land. 7 And I will shake all nations, so that the treasures of all nations shall come in, and I will fill this house with glory, says the Lord of hosts. 8 The silver is mine, and the gold is mine, declares the Lord of hosts. 9 The latter glory of this house shall be greater than the former, says the Lord of hosts. And in this place I will give peace, declares the Lord of hosts.’”
For those of you who may have forgotten the New Covenant that the Lord promised, let us look at the third of today’s Scriptures, which pre-dates the other two, Isaiah 9:6 (ESV):

6 For to us a child is born,
to us a son is given;
and the government shall be upon[a] his shoulder,
and his name shall be called[b]
Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
Footnotes: a. Isaiah 9:6 Or is upon b. Isaiah 9:6 Or is called
This verse refers to the Godhead or Holy Trinity of our mighty God, Who as the Holy Spirit is a Wonderful Counselor; Who is the Maker, the Everlasting Father; and as Jesus our Savior, the Prince of Peace.
At this time let us sing a couple of selections from your personal copy of A Classic Christmas Caroling Songbook (Hendrickson Publishers), selections will be accompanied by the corresponding music track from the companion CD: Classic Christmas Carols – 30 Sing-Along Favorites:
#13 It Came Upon the Midnight Clear – Anne Murray (Lyrics) – https://youtu.be/G71jGY6q8QY
#24 Silent night lyrics – Christmas carol – Christmas song 2011 – piano and voice music – https://youtu.be/hyY36DJmIcs
Benediction – (Philippians 4:7):
And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.